They Are Primatives
by ardavenport
Summary: The leaders of an isolated moon deal with a Jedi invasion and rescue attempt. Obi-Wan amd Qui-Gon mission.
1. Chapter 1

**THEY ARE PRIMITIVES** - Part 1

by ardavenport

Dani Orliss stormed down the corridor. The overhead lights had gone yellow, the ones that were still working. The oil lamps still shined their dimmer light from their improvised wall settings.

"Turi!" he yelled at a young man in a powder blue tunic and cloak draped across his chest and down his back. He turned from the two armored City Defenders. They all gave Leader Orliss short, respectful bows as he joined them.

"Where's the Dwen?" Orliss demanded.

"She's coming," Turi, the Dwen's aide, replied. "We're having trouble with the coms. The power--"

"I can see that the power is out." Orliss waved at the flickering lights; he held up a small, silver device that emitted the soft sound of static before he clicked it off and put it away in an inner coat pocket. Then he looked to one of the City Defenders.

"I heard they came in from the mountain-side, Captain. Did you use the sentry droids on them? Did we get them?"

The man he addressed, tall and hard and gray from his years as a peace enforcer, frowned. "No," he answered. "They didn't even slow them down. They just cut right through them and kept going. We thought we had them in the workshops, but we couldn't touch them. They deflected everything we fired at them; I've never seen anything like it."

Orliss looked stunned by the report. "How many droids do we have left?"

The captain pressed his lips together into a bitter line. "None, Sir. They destroyed them all."

Orliss took a few seconds to absorb the loss and then he gave the captain a look of sympathy. All those resources spent on those droids...gone. He looked to Turi. "What about the Guardians? Have they done any better?"

Turi swallowed. "I don't know, Leader. But...we couldn't stop them behind the Defender Quarters. We tried to encircle them in the courtyard, but they just leapt up out of the way. We had snipers with blaster rifles above, but they deflected the bolts with their energy swords. I saw it myself. I've never seen anyone move so fast. We had to stop. We hit some of our own..." Turi bowed his blond head, his brown eyes downcast and ashamed.

"But they looked like us, Turi?" Orliss pressed, more gently this time. "They weren't creatures...like the others?"

"No, Leader. I wouldn't know what such things would look like." Turi shook his head. "They were very tall, but they were like us."

A short woman joined the group. Her red, general's armor markings were smudged with soot, strands of her dark hair escaped the combs on her head. "The auxiliary command is already activated, Leader Orliss. But I can only give you Folot and Abimado. They're climbing out of the Nad-oh-six elevator now. I just got a message from them through the wires," she explained. "They'll be here any minute," she assured. Orliss thanked her and she left with the two City Defenders. They could hear other people running, calling to each other, beeps and whirring of straining equipment, but Orliss and Turi were otherwise alone in the intersection where they had gathered.

A stern woman with a guardian's short, plain haircut and the Dwen's pale, gold pants, tunics and cloak strode in unaccompanied.

"We've lost them. They're somewhere in the upper levels of the Hold. We think."

Turi paled as he bowed to his Guardian superior. "They strung a cable over the wall and got in through a window. Then they surprised Orono and Limhov and went straight to the Core. That's what happened to the power."

"Can we fix it?" Orliss asked quietly. The invaders had gone through their best defenses. It was a lightning strike that they had not seen coming and couldn't seem to stop.

Dwen Traskyuler shook her head, her aged face grave. "Maybe, but not any time soon. They slashed all the controls, but the Core's still intact. Then Limhov thinks she saw them go up a stairway. They could be anywhere since most of the alarms went dead with the main power."

"They didn't try to stop them?" Orliss demanded.

"They've got burns and Orono is missing a couple of his fingers." Traskyuler snapped. "And these blasters," she angrily gestured to the side arm at her hip, "are worse than useless against them. They just deflect the bolts back at you."

"Were there any deaths?" he asked more quietly.

"Yes. But it wasn't them. We did it to ourselves in a cross fire." Traskyuler stated bitterly. "These two don't seem to be out for blood. They destroy every bit of technology we throw at them and then just go around us."

Orliss ran his hand through his graying hair. "Turi, you go and find Folot and Abimado and get them over here. We have to re-establish coms and find them." What they could possibly do if they did find them Orliss couldn't say, but knowing where they were was still better than not knowing. Turn nodded and left. Leader and Dwen went down the hall together to the auxiliary command, the brighter light inside shining into the flickering corridor.

"They're looking for the negotiators!" she told him. "And they're taking us apart to find them." Orliss abruptly stopped at the door to the auxiliary command.

"Well, they won't find anything, will they?" He turned and went inside. The emergency generators hummed from below. The room's thick walls muted all the commotion outside. But papers and tapes littered the floor by the room's coms table in the center of the room.

"We're falling apart! And there are only two of them. This place looks like it's been invaded by an army!" Orliss circled around the coms to the big screen on the far wall; it showed a mostly flashing blue multi-level diagram of the Hold. Some screens on the equipment lining the granite walls had active views of the landing platform, the entrance hall, the upper towers. A couple of them showed frozen images of the intruders. Other screens were blank or showed only static.

"They were sent to rescue the negotiators." Traskyuler went to the screen with the clearest image of the intruders. Half of one figure was cut off, only showing a partial side view, but the camera had captured the other one, full figure. He was very tall and clearly male; he must have had to duck through the doorway he was emerging from. He wore a long, dark robe, pale tunics and brown pants and high boots. And in his hands he held an astonishing weapon, a straight sword of bright, green light. It cut through anything, deflected all attacks. And he was clearly, like them in body and face. His coloring was the same as theirs, his hair long--quite inappropriate for a fighter--but an unremarkable shade of brown, like his beard and mustache.

End Part 1


	2. Chapter 2

**THEY ARE PRIMITIVES** - Part 2

by ardavenport

Orliss looked at the image. It would have been better if they had sent some creatures, some intelligent beasts so that people would really grasp that they reaching beyond their own small world, beyond the Ithnun. People knew the tales, but that wasn't nearly as effective as meeting them in the flesh. The trade negotiators had been extraordinary. Two males, one with blue, the other with orange skin, no hair and amazing fleshy tails that hung down from the backs of their heads. One had his tails decorated with tattoos. He put his hand over an inner pocket of his coat where he kept the jeweled emblem that they had removed from one of them. They'd sent it's image to the Ithnun to prove that they had captured them.

Now these two invaders tore through all their defenses with unnatural skill and technology. Orliss walked toward the screen and stared at the weapon. The Dwen glared at him.

"Do you know what they are?" she demanded.

"I've never seen anything like them."

"That's not what I asked." She walked toward him; her low voice carried her authority of the Dwen-ship well. "You're the one with the far world education." Traskyuler reminded. "Have you heard of soldiers like these?"

"I was trained for a half-cycle for the service to the Ithnun Lords." He turned away from the image, the expression on his aging and handsome face angry. "They only let me know what they wanted me to know."

"What are they?" Traskyuler demanded.

Dani ran his hand through his graying blond hair. "I don't know," he affirmed. "But...they could be Jedi. They would have to have come from the Republic itself." He turned away from the screens and went back to the control table. He touched a couple of buttons and colored lights flashed; power hummed through the tilted metal surface under his hand. But the coms were dead, except for the hardwired ones that only went outside to the corridor and to the City Defender's command. Hopefully Folot and Abimado could fix things when they arrived. He stood at one of the three stations around the table, but the seats for the technicians were empty and the sensors, the droid controls, the power monitors were dead. He turned back to the Dwen.

Traskyuler stared at him, her back straight. "We should go, help with the search." She stepped away from the wall displays towards the door and gestured for him to follow. Leader Orliss looked shocked.

"We can't do anything out there," Dani complained, staying where he was. "It we could, you would have joined the fight already. Lieutenant Folot will be here in a minute. And I am not completely useless. I do know something about which buttons to push." Technicians did most of the work, but he had participated in all the drills.

"You look ridiculous standing there, Dani. We're under siege by two," she held up two accusing fingers, "exactly two people who are cutting us down to the land. They're destroying everything you've done. Now bring whatever you might know about these Jedi and come with me to fight them." She gestured impatiently toward the door again. He planted his feet and stubbornly stayed, his handsome, lined face determined.

"We can't beat them with weapons. But if we can find them, just talk to them...the Jedi, they're supposed to be honorable. It's possible..." he entreated his fellow leader; an idea began to form in his mind. "But I don't know what they'll do if they find out that the negotiators are already dead."

The Dwen glared at him. Puzzled, Traskyuler opened his mouth to ask what she though she could do running blindly about in the corridors looking for –

A sudden flash and powerful hum cut the air around him. A line of green flashed overhead, blue-white immediately to his right.

Leader Dani Orliss cringed forward, his hand breaking the covering and pressing down on the one control button that he really did know something about.

The door to the auxiliary command room slammed down with terrifying speed and a booming alarm sounded. Heavy machinery started up outside. Orliss froze, the palm of his hand scratched on the broken plastic plate. An eerie blue glow hovered immediately to his right, but his eyes stayed fixed to his left. The being whose image he had just been looking at spun and crouched. One of the Dwen's knives whirled crazily in the air away from him, hitting a wall and clattering to the ground.

Tras _missed_?

The light sword swung about, catching other knives. They sizzled, hissed and fell away like insects caught by a static charge. The image on the screen had hardly conveyed the deadly, electric hum of that weapon, rising and falling in volume as it moved toward the Dwen, along with the speed and terrifying precision of it's owner. One swipe toward her ankles threw her off balance and she went down. She immediately rolled, a new, curved throwing knife in her hand.

The blue glow, now behind him, moved.

"No!!" Orliss threw himself out, away from the controls. His body turned and he threw his arm out to catch the swing coming down on Tras. He caught a glimpse of a shocked expression on a young face. In that fraction of a second he thought of what a stupid move he'd just made. Not only would that light sword cut his arm off, it would continue on to slice his body in half and still behead Tras.

But the blow never fell. The blue light whipped upward, only grazing his upper arm. But 'only' a graze was searing pain coupled with the smell of ozone and burnt cloth and flesh. He screamed. And fell onto the Dwen.

Obi-Wan Kenobi looked down at his near miss, the tip of his lightsaber pointing right at the terrified man's face. His Master, Qui-Gon Jinn, held the end of his lightsaber even closer to the woman's eyes. She was fast, an experienced warrior. But hand weapons were even slower than blaster bolts and childishly easy to anticipate and deflect. She did not flinch under Qui-Gon cool gaze.

The man moaned, sliding to the floor and the woman broke her eye contact to catch him. Both Jedi pulled their weapons away, but they did not move back.

A large booming echoed and the alarm outside became muffled. Something heavy had lowered into place. Qui-Gon whirled and went to the door. He plunged his lightsaber into the metal and with both hands on the hilt, he started to carve out a large, glowing circle in the now sizzling metal. The two people on the floor watched, stunned.

When Qui-Gon had nearly completed his circle of melted metal he stepped back. Palm out, he Force pushed the circle and it clanged to the ground outside. He peered into the hole. Obi-Wan could see a wall of stone beyond it.

Obi-Wan sensed the motion before seeing it and the end of his lightsaber came down on the muzzle of the blaster that the woman had just drawn. She looked at the remaining end of the blaster in her hand with disgust.

"Useless," she said, scowling at it before tossing it aside.

Qui-Gon saw the aborted attack and came back from the door. He looked down at the two that they were now imprisoned with. He did not know who they were, but he presumed that they were of some rank. The woman wore a pale yellow version of the same outfit that many of the fighters that they'd encountered wore. The man's green and dark orange embroidered velvet suit reminded him of the sort of costume that senators on Coruscant preferred.

The woman helped the man to slide away from them on the floor so that he could sit with his back to the wall. He wasn't badly hurt, but lightsaber burns were painful. He watched her ease the man's outer jacket off and he gritted his teeth and helped, clearly determined not to cry out again. She glanced at Qui-Gon with her own look of challenge in her eye.

Qui-Gon inclined his head to his apprentice and Obi-Wan stepped back toward him.

"We may be delayed. And we do not wish to be observed." He pointed up at a ring of cameras above the center control bay of the room. "I will look for another exit, but be mindful of those two, Obi-Wan. The woman is clearly dangerous, but the man may have abilities as well." Obi-Wan nodded and Qui-Gon began to search along the along the walls.

Obi-Wan looked at the cameras and gathered the Force to him. He activated his lightsaber and leaped in the air. Sparks flew, electronics squealed as he hit the first one. He landed lightly and turning to his next target he sprang up again. The cameras were spaced far enough apart so he had to leapt to get each one while still being careful not to hit the yellow and white lights next to them.

The two Humans by the wall stared at him with undisguised astonishment, though the woman's expression had a more calculating look to it. She would attack again if she thought she could succeed. Obi-Wan carefully did not look directly at them, but he noticed. The room they were in seemed to be some kind of reinforced command post with it's own power supply. The floor and ceiling were solid, the walls formed from solid blocks, probably as thick as they were wide.

Obi-Wan went to his Master who was inspecting the perimeter. The room was roughly circular, with a central information bay in the middle and various equipment storage and data stations along the walls. A large map of the whole fortress dominated one wall. They couldn't read much of the displayed text, but it seemed related to some languages they knew and the diagrams were easy enough to interpret.

Qui-Gon went to the map. He experimentally touched a lighted control under the map, then another. The map and the screens blinked and suddenly all the text became a readable form of Basic.

"Ah." Qui-Gon sounded satisfied with his discovery of the translation option. All the technology on this world was standard and smuggled from other parts of the galaxy. But it only confirmed what they already knew; there was only one exit to the room they were trapped in, the door that was now blocked.

End Part 2


	3. Chapter 3

**THEY ARE PRIMITIVES** - Part 3

by ardavenport

"Master, I believe the woman is still armed," Obi-Wan spoke what he sensed from her through the Force as well as what he could simply see from her body language.

Qui-Gon replied with a small smile. "I am absolutely certain of it." He did not sound too concerned. Obi-Wan nodded; while the entire fortress had attacked them, he had not felt in any imminent peril. The Force all around him, moving in concert with his Master, he'd stayed in control of their part of the battle at all times. Among the blaster bolts and droids, they had fought off quite a few edged, thrown projectiles as well.

"She threw knives at us, Master, just solid metal. They're even less effective than blasters."

"She is not accustomed to the blaster, Obi-Wan. Remember, these are primitives, my young apprentice. They are not our objective."

"But they murdered the ambassadors–"

"The Ithnun claimed they were murdered. But we have not confirmed the circumstances of their deaths, nor is it our mission to judge," he admonished.

Obi-Wan lowered his blue eyes respectfully. "Yes, Master." Qui-Gon sighed. Their rescue mission had failed. It had probably failed even before they had arrived. The ambassadors sent to the primary moon of Plodnum were dead. Their only task now was to retreat and leave.

They both suddenly turned together. The woman had stood up.

"There are medical supplies in that cabinet." She pointed at a tall wood and metal cabinet of many compartments on the opposite wall. "I'm going to get something for my friend here." She did not wait for their permission. Qui-Gon nodded to Obi-Wan and he immediately strode over to the cabinet. The woman glared at Qui-Gon when she found her path blocked.

"We do carry some medical supplies. They are quite effective for injuries like that. If you wish, my apprentice will help you."

She sneered back. The top of her head barely reached the top of Obi-Wan's chin, but she did not tilt her head to look up at either of them. "I'm sure you know all about them. But I prefer to have some of our own tools anyway. Just in case your 'apprentice' isn't as able at 'helping' as you say." Qui-Gon gave Obi-Wan a tiny nod of approval and he answered it, silently acknowledging the unspoken language of gesture and Force sense between Master and Padawan.

Obi-Wan hastily leaned back when the woman swung an upper cabinet door open. A smile of satisfaction curled her lips before she turned and pulled out a black metal box emblazoned with blue symbols and a large clear plastic jug with a fairly universal symbol for 'water' on it's label. She turned and took them back to the man. Obi-Wan followed.

She cut away the arm of his blue and green striped shirt above the injury across the biceps of his upper arm with a utility cutter from the box. Obi-Wan kept his eye on the cutter in his side vision as he opened a pouch on his belt.

"This will help you clean the wound." He slid the end of the small, flat bag open. "You'll only need a little." The woman laid the cutter back down into the box very carefully.

"It's fine, Tras." The man smiled at the woman. He was older, with sandy graying hair, but his face was wrinkled in all the places that a smile would make it so; he smiled like he meant it. And the woman's hard expression softened. He turned his body so his wounded arm faced Obi-Wan. "Do your best," he encouraged.

Obi-Wan dabbed at it with a white antiseptic/anesthetic pad, first around the edges of the wound and then in the center where the fabric was burned into the man's upper arm. A clean, sweet aroma mixed with that of the burnt flesh. The man straightened with a look of amazement.

"It stopped hurting," he explained to his companion's worry. "I mean, it still stings, but it's...not anything like it was." Obi-Wan held his arm firmly.

"You shouldn't move it for another minute. Then we can clean the wound," Obi-Wan instructed and his patient nodded willingly. "Do you have any sterile cloths? To clean it with?"

Tras stared back at him and then down to the medical case. "Uh, yes." She looked down into it, her eyes passing over all the things that she could use to kill or disable this 'Obi-Wan' person with. But the other, larger one was too far away. She couldn't attack one without bringing the other one down on her; she would have to get them both at once. If she could. She brought up a packet of clean pads and some bandages and put them in Dani's free hand.

"I'm Dani Orliss," he introduced himself as Obi-Wan took a pad from him. "I'm Leader of the Rathinun Ruling Council, and, well, overall carrier of the flame around here." He spoke casually of the titles that made him the leader of millions. "And..." He looked down at his arm. "...We don't have anything like this. But, I guess you know all that. About us." Tras noticed that Obi-Wan didn't answer, but kept his eyes on the blackened wound as he cleaned it and the reddened skin around it. She wondered if he was allowed to speak to them. He looked to be a full adult, though a young one, his medium brown hair was short and stiff, with a long braid behind one ear tied with colored bands. And a caudal tail stuck straight out from the back of his head. Impractical as it was, the style was doubtless a symbol of his rank as an apprentice to the older one.

"...And I've got to tell you that we've been having a cartload of trouble just trying to contact those 'traders'. Well, that's the polite word for them. They're pirates, really. Otherwise we have to get everything from the Ithnun. And believe me, they never, ever let us forgot it. The Ithnun used to claim that they were lords of the whole universe, but that was a long time ago," Dani ended with touches of sadness and humor combined. Obi-Wan did not say anything as he finished cleaning the wound, but Tras could tell he was listening as Dani added, "The people here...they hardly have any chance at all to see that there's a whole galaxy out there. Worlds they've never even dreamed of." Dani was very good with people. And judging by this Obi-Wan's wordless response to Dani's chatter, it seemed that these Jedi were 'people' after all.

Tras took the soiled cloth and charred fabric and tossed them back into the box. She kept her head down and stayed silent. Talking, this was Dani Orliss's strength, his domain. He was the politician, the one with the personality. And good looks. And his very nice smile. Tras had long since worn out her younger woman's crush on him. He was far too married anyway and her Guardian's oaths forbade any intimate relations. But...after all this time, he still looked good. And he had thrown his own body between her and Obi-Wan's light sword. She knew that impulses like that spoke truth.

Obi-Wan sprinkled another powder on the wound now and covered it with a larger pad.

"We were responsible for the negotiators' deaths," Dani confessed and Obi-Wan paused in winding the bandage around his arm. "But it was an accident. You see...we...we wanted to bring them here. Show them that everything that the Lords-above-all Ithnun were telling them about their 'subjects' on these backward moons wasn't true. And that a lot of the things they were claiming about themselves was just a load of hoshlops peelings, too." Obi-Wan had finished wrapping the bandage but his hands remained on the closure as he listened. Dani had his complete attention. "But the Guardians we sent to...kidnap them...they used darts and...we didn't know the drug would kill them." Dani's own blue eyes met Obi-Wan's. "We didn't know," he finished sincerely. He looked down and moved his arm, testing it. "It feels good. Thank you."

Obi-Wan sat back and seemed to break that momentary connection between them. "It should heal in a few days. But there might be a scar."

"Days?!" Tras exclaimed.

"_Might_ be a scar?" Dani looked down at his upper arm. "We really don't have anything like this."

"Obi-Wan."

The young man started and turned to his companion. It wasn't too loud, or too deep, but it was a strong, resonant voice, the voice of authority. He came over to them and Dani flashed him a winning smile. The tall man did not respond to either Dani or Obi-Wan. He crouched next to them, his long, dark robe massed about him on the floor. He picked up Dani's discarded coat.

"I don't think that will fit you," Dani told him. The corners of Obi-Wan's mouth twitched but the older Jedi seemed to have no sense of humor. He went through the inner pockets.

"This, " he said, holding up the jeweled emblem. "Was fixed to Ambassador Leorg's arm." Obi-Wan looked shocked. Orliss cringed. He had ordered the surgeons to remove it from the body. It was distinctive and decorative and they could show it to the Ithnun to prove that they held the negotiators without revealing that they were dead.

"We didn't defile the bodies," Orliss said quietly, his tone suddenly serious.

The Jedi sat stone-faced through his explanation about the emblem and the cremation rites they'd given to the negotiators. He put the emblem away in a side pouch on his belt, stood up to his full, enormous height and went back to the other side of the room. Obi-Wan followed.

"So, now it looks like we steal from the dead. We've made a wonderful impression on them." Tras noted as they watched the two of them together. "And you won't be able to get to that one so easily in any case," she finished, pointing at the taller, older one. She closed the metal box, opened the plastic water bottle, took a drink and passed it on to Dani. He started to reach for it with his wounded arm, then thought better of it and used the other.

"Hmph. Give me a little time." She shook her head and sat down next to him. He took a drink and set the bottle down between them. They sat with their backs against the wall, as the two Jedi went back to the big map. Time, Tras thought. Given enough time, could these two cut through the rock walls?

End Part 3


	4. Chapter 4

**THEY ARE PRIMITIVES** - Part 4

by ardavenport

"What else do you know about them? These Jedi?" Tras asked.

"They're...they're supposed to be like Guardians," he gestured toward her formal garb, a symbol of her own service. "Except for the whole Republic. They come from a temple on the capital planet. They're supposed to have...special powers."

"Really?" Tras looked at them, then at the destroyed cameras on the high ceiling above. "I never would have guessed."

"What do you think of them? You've fought them. Seen them fight. You're the expert." They spoke with hushed voices, trying not to attract attention.

"I've never seen fighters like them," she admitted. "They're not just fast. They are always where they need to be, before you even move. They command the air," she said in a respectful whisper.

"So good that even you can't hit them?"

"That blade was aimed _right_ at his head," she hissed. "I _couldn't_ have missed. But he moved his hand and it just turned in mid-air."

"Are you sure he did that? That it didn't just go wild?" She glared back at him, offended by the suggestion. "Sorry," he amended. "I should have known better." The two Jedi had moved to coms table. "But you have to admit, they got all the way in here and you didn't even see them."

"I caught a glimpse of one of them hiding after we came in here and I was _trying_ to get you to leave, so we could cut the power and trap them. But _you_ were too busy telling them everything they needed to know." Tras's heated whisper replied. "And I forgot to congratulate you on your brilliant thinking of trapping _us_ in here with them."

"Why thank you, my Dwen. I'm flattered that you noticed." He graciously accepted her sarcasm as if it were a compliment and she huffed in exasperation.

On the other side of the room, the older, taller Jedi looked up at the ceiling, apparently disappointed. Dani followed his gaze. He was scowling at the vents by the ruined cameras. Dani chuckled out loud and the Jedi's bearded face turned to them.

"The ventilation in this room is very inefficient," he announced to them.

"Yeah, it always gets stuffy in here during drills. But," Dani lifted his hand up, pointing to the very small vent openings, "people coming and going through the air vents. How obvious is that?" He smiled sympathetically. The Jedi just frowned back.

"I'm Dani Orliss," he started out. "I'm Leader–"

"So, I'm told." The Jedi cut him off.

Dani regrouped. "And you are...?" he invited, looking for an opening.

"That is not important." He turned his back on them. With a possibly sympathetic glance their way, Obi-Wan followed.

"Tough room?" Tras said from the side.

"I like a challenge," Dani responded, his eyes still on the two. The taller one put the hood of his robe on and Obi-Wan did the same, now presenting him with impenetrable fabric.

"Well, if you can actually get through to them, try to distract them."

"Huh?"

"Fall down or knock something over or do something that will keep their hands busy."

Dani looked at her. She had a disturbingly familiar fixed gaze on the Jedi. "What are you talking about."

"I still have two dart guns under my cloak." She spoke very softly now. "I think I can—"

"What?!" Dani's exclamation was loud enough for the Jedi, shrouded in their robes now, to look their way. Tras and Dani froze, not-funny smiles fixed on their faces. After another moment, the Jedi went back to their own business.

"Have you forgotten what's already happened? We don't need two more bodies, Tras." Dani managed to keep the volume down this time, but his intensity had gone up. "Assuming you could actually hit them with anything this time. What do you expect us to do with them if you do?"

"We go back to the original plan, of course. It's all we have," she answered. "We're stuck in here. But so are they. Captain Bella must have seen that they were trapped here before they destroyed the security eyes. They might as well be our hostages. But the Ithnun couldn't tell the difference. And nobody even knows that negotiators are dead, either. Luro's probably already sent a message to Ithnun that we have them, too."

A look of horror crossed Dani's face. "No."

"What? You don't think Luro will–"

"No, that's exactly what Luro will do. Of course he's already done it by now." He looked back at the robed Jedi. "And how many of _them_ do you think they're going to send to rescue these two?" He pointed emphatically as he spoke. "This a bad plan, Tras. We should never have sent that transmission. What was I thinking?"

"This is our only plan, Dani," the Dwen insisted. "What do you think they're doing out there while you're stuck in here with the coms out. Do you think Luro, or Palef or any of the other Councillors are just going sit around while you...what?"

Dani Orliss's expression had changed. Dwen Traskyuler started to recognize it as his 'idea-forming' look, the kind of expression he got when he figured out how to convince the river towns to accept a new dam or pay for the expansion of the Great City...or convince a doubting Dwen that they could reach beyond the Ithnun Lords grip on their world to the worlds beyond. He suddenly reached out and patted her face.

"There _is_ another plan, Tras." He jumped up, stood and rubbed his bandaged arm, then strode up to the coms table.

"You." Qui-Gon turned to the man pointing at him. "You can cut right through that stone wall there, right? What, it's only five, maybe ten body-thicknesses? No problem, right?" Qui-Gon didn't answer. Orliss kept going. "Considering how quickly you got through that steel door." Qui-Gon stood still, not giving him any reaction at all. "I don't know how we're going to pay for that," he finished, looking at the hole, momentarily distracted. Qui-Gon remained silent.

"Look, you don't have any better ideas for getting out of this. Or you would have done it." Qui-Gon couldn't deny that. His best idea had been to cut a tunnel through solid rock to a hopefully unused corridor and sneak out that way.

"And what, precisely, are you proposing?" he finally asked looking down at the man, his arms tucked inside the opposite sleeves of his robe. Orliss seemed quite unintimidated.

"Here it is." He held up a hand for emphasis and moved toward the door. "You cut us out of here with those..." He gestured vaguely toward Qui-Gon's waist.

"Lightsabers," Qui-Gon supplied.

"Lightsabers," he finished, pointing at the hole in the thick, shielded door. "I call out first to stop anybody from trying to shoot you. We walk out together. We take you out through the city." His hands pantomimed them leaving. "Then, we escort you to whatever craft you came in and then you leave," he concluded, his hands falling down at his sides.

Qui-Gon was shocked back into silence. But he hastily covered his expression when the man started to look a little too pleased with himself.

"That was our original plan. He must have told you." Dani Orliss pointed at Obi-Wan. "All we wanted to do was show the negotiators who we were. Get them away from the Ithnun lies and tell them the truth about us. Show them that they could trade with us directly and not through the Ithnun." He frowned. "We had planned on dinner and maybe a little sport, too. But we can skip that."

"We have no authority to negotiate," Qui-Gon Jinn stated.

"Not even for yourselves?" Traskyuler asked as she stood and stepped up to Leader Orliss's side.

Qui-Gon Jinn's eyes narrowed.

"Well, I _do_ have the authority to negotiate," Dani went on, ignoring the antagonism between Dwen and Jedi. "And that's what I'm proposing. We get those doors open and...we let you go."

"We have no reason to trust you."

"You don't have anything better to do," Orliss shot back. "And you're not going to get a better offer." Qui-Gon did not like it, that this man was right. Next to him, Obi-Wan waited, obviously ready to accept. Qui-Gon finally nodded.

"Great!" Orliss announced to Qui-Gon's great annoyance.

He stepped up to the central control console and flipped a manual switch on a com unit. It turned out to be a voice com. After some surprise from the people on the other side and some over-dramatic complaints from Orliss about why they hadn't tried to signal him sooner, someone named Luro agreed to be waiting when they came out.

The Jedi took off their robes and while Orliss and the Dwen watched they first widened the hole in the shield door (Orliss moaned again about the cost of fixing it). Then Obi-Wan carved out chunks of the stone while Qui-Gon used the Force to pull them away from the door, dribbling molten rock as they fell. The room soon smelled like an overheated oven.

Orliss carefully stepped closer as Obi-Wan made a final cut. His lightsaber sizzled through the stone and then out, making a small hole in the remaining slab of rock. Orliss held back, cringing a little from the blobs of glowing rock. After a moment, when nothing came back out of the hole at them he spoke loudly.

"Luro, are you out there?" Orliss bent forward, so his head was more level with the hole.

"Leader, you said you were coming out."

"I'm coming;" he answered cheerfully. "I just want to make sure you know that this is a _real_ truce." The Dwen came forward and yelled her own confirmation as well. Then she stepped back, letting Orliss finish.

"I hope Luro doesn't think that we're trying to send him some kind of code that he thinks means shoot on sight," the Dwen grumbled below Qui-Gon's shoulder.

"Even if he does, that shouldn't be a problem," Qui-Gon answered smugly, folding his arms before him. Traskyuler gave him a dirty look.

Obi-Wan cut the last arc and pulled away. the stone fell outward, away from his outstretched palm and thudded solidly on the ground. Silence. Someone on the other side of the opening coughed.

Orliss brushed off imaginary dust from his one-sleeved shirt. "We're coming!" Traskyuler went to his side and they ducked under the metal edge of the inner door. "Stay behind us," he told the Jedi for the fourth or fifth time. Orliss, then bent low, well under the recently melted rock edges of the opening. Then Traskyuler went. Then the Jedi. Orliss grimaced up at Qui-Gon who emerged and stood at his usual height, almost two heads taller than the Leader. 'Getting behind them' was purely symbolic. Qui-Gon gave him a tiny shrug and a small, innocent smile.

Orliss turned and addressed the people assembled at the door. Guardians, sentries, soldiers and councillors lined the hallways. Orliss raised his hands, expressing his happiness to see no weapons raised, though there were plenty at the ready. Luro, a slender, younger man with short, dark hair, carefully stepped forward, a few other well-dressed people fearfully fidgeted behind him.

"If I may speak with you privately, Leader..."

"Oh, we've said enough." Orliss cheerfully but firmly shut him out. "Now, here we are," he gestured to everyone, including the Jedi behind him. "We have guests. They came for the negotiators. They fought well," he looked directly at the Guardians and soldiers. "And they fought honorably. And now they're taking the negotiators' place. And we will show them every courtesy that we would have shown them. Show them who we are. And what we are. And how much better we are than the so-called 'Lords' of Ithnun.

"Just like we planned." He finished, his stance daring anyone present to oppose him. No one did.

The people backed away. They lined the hallways, Guardians in their pastel tunics, pants and short capes, city defenders in body armor, hammered metal for most of them, lightweight, super-strong plastiform for a lucky few, Luro and other councillors and their attendants. They shrank against the walls as Orliss went forward snagging Luro on his way, the Jedi behind him, Traskyuler behind them.

They went through the maze of hallways and entryways in the fortress. And as they did, Orliss began to talk about the places they passed, the rooms, the halls, their history. He prodded Luro to join him, but he seemed capable of only a few words at a time. There were quite a lot of wrecked doors, blaster burns and long, burnt gashes, but Orliss ignored those. Luro mostly kept looking fearfully back at the two large intruders behind him. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon kept their expressions neutral, but this did not seem to reassure him. Orliss finally let him return to his companions when they paused to hear about the local art in a long, high-ceilinged room.

As they entered a room of polished, bluish stone with a ceiling so low that Qui-Gon Jinn had to duck his head to avoid the light fixtures, Orliss talked about the long past millennia when tribal leaders were brought to wait there for audiences at the great and mysterious Hold built by the powerful Sky-Lords, the Ithnun. Being primitives, tied to the harvests of the land, and not knowing any better, the Rathinun had obeyed and worshiped the Ithnun. But the servants of the Ithnun learned that their masters were hardly all powerful and that the machines and devices of the Sky-Lords worked just as well for them. The Ithnun had long since been driven back to their own moon, but they still controlled all the technology needed for space travel and the Rathinum had not succeeded in getting any from the smugglers and pirates they could contact on their own.

Orliss and Traskyuler opened a pair of ornate doors together, pushing them outward. The others in the group stayed back, keeping some distance between them and the Jedi. So, only the two leaders and the Jedi walked through the portal of the waiting room into the huge entry hall of the Hold. They stopped and they stared.

End Part 4


	5. Chapter 5

**THEY ARE PRIMITIVES** - Part 5

by ardavenport

"Tras, what are you doing to me?" Orliss now cast a nervous glance behind him and up at their Jedi guests.

"How could I possibly arrange this when I was stuck in there with you and them?" She looked proudly at her ranks of Guardians. "But I wish I'd thought of it."

A huge crowd had assembled before them. Neat rows of defenders and Guardian. Many were Guardians in pale green and blue tunics and shoulder cloaks. They formed an empty corridor that stretched across the floor to the great open doors. The yellow outside light shone beyond them.

A few people coughed and there was the muffled sound of shifting bodies. Orliss swallowed his grimace and advanced. Behind him the Jedi folded their arms before them, their hands disappearing into the opposite sleeves of their robes, and marched behind him. Traskyuler came behind them.

Obi-Wan lowered his head, but kept his eyes forward. He didn't remember most of them. The 'Guardians', as Orliss had named them during his long narration, were the traditional enforcers on this moon. They were picked from children submitted by their families to the Guardians, and trained for a lifetime of service to their moon. As Guardians, they were sworn to be poor in material wealth, but they would always be respected and they would belong to an order that would support them. And with Guardian training and status they would always be able to defend themselves. They trained from young children to be expert in all physical martial arts.

Obi-Wan noticed that several of them in the front lines had bandaged injuries. Noble as they were, they did not have the Force with them and he and his Master had cut through their ranks with relative ease. All of their metal hand weapons were slow compared to the blaster fire, rockets, energy beams and other technological weapons that the Jedi normally needed to defend themselves against.

Next to his Padawan, Qui-Gon Jinn observed the Guardians as well as they moved forward. One young woman in pale green silently cried as she stood at attention, her hand going to her mouth as she fought for control. Others wore rigid and tearful expressions, the discipline of their lives holding them in place. Many looked to the Dwen behind them. They bowed to her, carefully not lowering their heads until the Jedi were nearly past them.

Qui-Gon recognized one older male, his hair a straight steel gray, cut evenly at the base of his skull. Qui-Gon had seen him giving orders and immediately afterwards the Guardians' attacks had focused on the hilts of their lightsabers, obviously trying to disarm them. It was a sound tactic, but their efforts were too slow. And it was painfully obvious to Qui-Gon that the man had never directed a battle with energy weapons before and the errors he had made had cost his own troops in crossfire and ricochets. Qui-Gon was absolutely certain that he and Obi-Wan had not directly inflicted any deaths

The man stood in the front, near the open door and his eyes bored into Qui-Gon as they passed. The Jedi glanced his way, nothing more. Qui-Gon sensed that the man knew that he had made mistakes that had cost the lives of his own people. Qui-Gon could do nothing for him.

The Hold entrance overlooked a large, open, tree-lined plaza. A murmur went through the scattered people there when they saw Orliss and Traskyuler emerge, and then louder, more fearful exclamations when they saw the Jedi just behind them. A quarter of the blue sky above was dominated by the moon's primary, a huge, golden gas giant. The sun shone behind the fortress they were leaving but they shadows they stood in were golden from the glow of the planet.

Orliss raised his hands as he stepped forward to the top of the stairs. He had a strong commanding voice and the people seemed to lean toward him as he spoke of his own failings in the deaths of the negotiators, that the Jedi (he paused at the word, introducing them) had only come to rescue them, that they were noble Guardians of many worlds who had fought well and honorably, and would be allowed to leave. They heard some sounds of disapproval, but Orliss seemed to know his audience and he appealed to their rise to civilization, how they knew now that they were better than the Ithnun Lords and that only their actions would prove this. There was one awkward moment when he stopped and backed up to Qui-Gon.

"What are your names?"

"Qui-Gon Jinn." He gestured to his Padawan. "Obi-Wan Kenobi."

Orliss nodded and repeated the pronunciation of their names flawlessly to the crowd. Qui-Gon found the speech over-dramatic but Orliss's audience responded to him. He even got some cheers from the people closest to them. Qui-Gon sighed impatiently and then stopped himself as he noticed Obi-Wan's glowing expression toward Orliss. The Jedi Master wondered if he wasn't a bit too cynical about this man's ideals.

The Leader started down the stairs with Traskyuler at his side and without looking back at them, he waved his hand forward. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon followed close behind. The rest of the party from inside stayed at the top of the stairs. People backed away as they descended. But at the bottom of the stairs Orliss stopped, turned and looked up at Qui-Gon.

"We could still put together a quick banquet. In your honor." Qui-Gon didn't give him any reaction to this statement. "But I expect you want to just go," he finished.

"That would be best," Qui-Gon responded. Orliss looked back up at him uncertainly.

"And how did you two get here?" he asked. Traskyuler took a step closer, clearly interested in this information.

"We came down from the cliffs," Qui-Gon answered simply. Orliss stared back. Traskyuler looked alarmed.

"The...cliffs?" Orliss's hand pointed back toward the Hold, with the mountain and shear rock face behind it, towering over the whole city. Qui-Gon nodded.

"And...you're just going to...climb back up?"

"We had planned on it." Qui-Gon looked about the tree-lined plaza. "But if you can clear this area, that won't be necessary." He gestured at the people hanging back from them. It took a few seconds for this request to sink in. He turned to Traskyuler.

"Well, Tras. Get this area cleared," he ordered. Looking a bit unhappy, she went back up the stairs. A minute later she returned with a column of Guardians that spread out in an expanding circle, urging people back as they went. Qui-Gon took out his comlink and contacted the astro-droid on their ship.

After a few minutes they heard a growing rumble and the whine of a spaceship engine. The people around the cleared plaza looked about nervously until one man shouted and pointed upward.

Slowly, the Jedi starfighter descended to the ground from above, piloted by their astromech, R5. It was a basic two-seat craft, the absolute minimum they had needed to get to and from their mission. Another ship would have been called from orbit if the ambassadors had been rescued. The people backed away from the rush of warm air generated under antigrav lifters. They stared in awe as the landing gear locked into place and the spaceship settled on the ground. Then the engines shut down, and only the echo of their roar remained.

A few people coughed. And then someone laughed.

They had concealed their ship high in the craggy cliffs above in a flat area where only creatures of flight could get to. And they had obviously been there today. The entire upper surface of the ship was splattered with their droppings, white and brown in the yellow planet-light.

"Wwwwwwwhhhhhaaaaaaazzzzzz!!"

A fat, flightless fledgling flapped it's half grown wings at them from where it clung to the forward canopy. It snapped a dark and wickedly pointed beak at the spectators. R5 beeped at it from it's flight socket at the base of one rear wing of the ship.

"There's a reason why people don't go up there," Orliss muttered to Traskyuler who smirked back at the Jedi.

"Wwwhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazzzzzz!!" the angry fledgling squawked at them. Everyone looked at each other, not sure what to do. A few small children in the crowd pointed and made bird sounds back at it. It was young, but it still could do some damage with it's beak and claws. Some Guardians looked to Traskyuler for guidance and she nodded to them. They left.

Qui-Gon laid a hand on Orliss's shoulder and he looked up at the Jedi curiously. Qui-Gon inclined his head and slowly approached the ship. The young bird was half as large as Qui-Gon and looked quite unhappy.

"Oh, he can't..." Traskyuler said disgustedly to a smiling Obi-Wan as the tall human Jedi lightly jumped up onto the wing of the ship opposite the R5 unit. One hand raised, he slowly approached and spoke softly to the animal. It watched with wary orange eyes.

"Wwwhhaa-whhaaa-whaaaaawww." It bobbed it's head before it allowed the hand to pet it's downy brown head. Then it raised it's open beak and hooted as if it expected Qui-Gon to feed it. He laughed softly and began to nudge it off the ship. At the base of the stairs Obi-Wan noticed the murmurs of wonder and approval from the people around them. Orliss obviously noticed it, too.

The bird plopped down to the ground and then waddled next to Qui-Gon after he'd jumped down next to it. Two Guardians with ropes came running up and then stopped at the sight of the large fledgling squawking and hooting contentedly next to the Jedi. They hesitated until Traskyuler herself went to them, took the rope and then went to the bird.

"Be gentle with her. She's had a difficult day," Qui-Gon said down to Traskyuler, who looked like she would prefer to strangle the animal, or Qui-Gon. She slipped a loop of rope around it's neck and, with Qui-Gon's urging, nudged it toward the waiting Guardians. They guided it away.

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan both bowed to Traskyuler, and then to Orliss, who cautiously returned the gesture. Obi-Wan hopped up onto the ship to the forward pilot's seat. Qui-Gon followed, but instead of getting in, he reached down into the rear compartment. He rummaged about, taking some things out and putting others back before rising again. Then he climbed back down, his Padawan's gaze following him curiously. Qui-Gon returned to Orliss who stared up at him.

"This is more of the bacta that we used on your injuries. You should have no trouble using it, if you apply it the same way we did on your burns." Wide-eyed, Orliss accepted the strap of the gray plastic case that Qui-Gon haded to him. "And while I have no authority to negotiate, I can say that the ambassadors that you accidentally killed, "Orliss grimaced, "were not just trade negotiators. The Ithnun also wish to petition for membership in the Republic. They were rejected out of hand because of the embargo of knowledge and space technology that the Ithnum hold over the other moons of this system. This sort of governance is considered unstable and unlawful in the Republic." Qui-Gon held out his hand, a small, flat round device in his palm. "If any members of Republic wish to contact you directly, they would use this." Orliss carefully took the gold and silver holoprojector, holding it carefully as if it were a delicate piece of art.

Qui-Gon folded his arms into the sleeves of his robe. "The Ithnun are apparently...difficult to deal with. Others may indeed wish to bypass them entirely and speak with you directly." Orliss and Traskyuler continued to stare at the holoprojector. "Or they may not," Qui-Gon warned. Orliss hastily looked up.

"Yes," he accepted. "I understand." His face became serious. Qui-Gon bowed and backed up to the ship. He climbed up on it, trying not to touch the animal droppings with his hands and climbed down into the rear seat. The engines started up and the canopy began to close as soon as he sat down. R5 chirped and bleeped, clearly happy to be leaving.

Qui-Gon scanned the pre-flight list glowing on his screen as he buckled on the safety restraints. All of Obi-Wan's start-up commands mirrored on his instruments as well. They could each fly the ship, but Qui-Gon usually let Obi-Wan handle the piloting. He put his headset on and glanced to either side, noting that the noise had driven the crowd back to a safe distance. They slowly lifted off, rising up into the sky under the golden planet, getting nearly up to the height of the cliffs before Obi-Wan engaged the main engines. They were out of the atmosphere, black, starry space above them, in seconds.

"Master?" Obi-Wan's voice came back to him through the com from the forward seat.

"Hmm?"

"Was it wise to give them that holo-com? As you said, they are primitives."

"No. It probably was not wise to give it to them." He smiled. Their ship arced into a higher orbit to meet the cruiser they had arrived with. "But I think it was honorable."

An assistant opened the door for Dwen Traskyuler into Leader Orliss's private office high up in the Hold. She carried a large, covered tray and the assistant closed the door behind her. Traskyuler looked up from the volume he wrote in with his personal ink-pen. The narrow windows let in the yellow, outside light, enough to work by without calling on the over-taxed generators.

"Complements of the cooks." She laid the tray down and then removed the woven cover. There were crispy sweets on the side and a bowl of stewed roots and greens. And in the center plate, garnished with flowers and tender, baby fern leaves, were succulent slices of young maku-chick meat.

"Oooooh, that looks good." Orliss reached for the empty plates and paddles and served generous portions for each of them. The Jedi had left several days ago, but they had not butchered the animal that had roosted on their craft until that morning, after they had fed it a proper diet of grain and vegetable scraps.

The Hold had resumed it's normal schedule. The damage costs were high. The Council was arguing about how to replace everything, but it wasn't any more fractious than usual. The medicines and bandages that the Jedi had given them had helped a great deal and there was considerable talk about how they would obtain more. Orliss cast his eyes toward the small device on a little pedestal on his desk. But it had remained silent though there was always someone in the office, night and day, to watch it.

"Hofhem was very unhappy about our dinner here," Traskyuler told him over the remains of their meal.

Orliss groaned. The elder Guardian had a near fanatical devotion to his animals. Traskyuler grinned.

"I only had to remind him once about the last time he tried to raise one of these things." They both chuckled over the chaos and destruction that was much funnier years afterward than it had been at the time.

fzzzzt

"What was that?" Traskyuler sat up looking about.

"What?" Orliss asked, chewing a bite of roots.

fzzzzt

They both turned to the small, round device that Qui-Gon Jinn had given to Orliss, sitting on the desk in it's place of honor. A faint, bluish form glowed over it. It was a tiny little transparent being; it wore floor-length robes and was fairly portly in the body. It's hairless head tapered back into two long, hairless tails that fell down on it's back.

It cleared it's small throat before asking, "Am I addressing the Leader Orliss, of the Rathinun?"

**– FIN –**

(first posted on tf.n - 7-Feb-2006)

**Disclaimer:** All characters and situations belong to George and Lucasfilm; I'm just playing in their sandbox.


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